The present invention relates to cable terminations and more particularly to duplex or two-wire cable terminations that snap into place and include snap-on cable retainers, neither of which requires twisting for locking.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,933 issued Jun. 27, 2000 in the name of Thomas J. Gretz for xe2x80x9cSnap in Cable Connectorxe2x80x9d, and herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, describes a locking cable connector composed of three mating pieces that snap together and provide a connector for connecting helically wound armored or metal clad electrical conductors to junction boxes or electrical panels. The first piece of the snap in locking cable connector is a die cast member including at its inner end a smooth outer cylindrical section having an outer diameter with flanges that accommodates a second piece comprising a spring steel adapter. The spring steel adapter is used to secure the connector to a junction box. The third piece is a spring steel locking ring provided to receive a helically wound shielded cable that is inserted into the outer end of the die cast member. The locking ring has outwardly directed tangs that snap into the die cast member and secure it thereto. The locking ring also has inwardly directed tangs to receive the armored cable through its inner bore and restrict its removal by a rearward applied force. The part named xe2x80x9cspring steel locking ringxe2x80x9d of U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,933 is hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cspring steel cable retainerxe2x80x9d in this disclosure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,194,661 issued Feb. 27, 2001 in the name of Thomas J. Gretz for xe2x80x9cDuplex Connectorxe2x80x9d, and herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses a duplex connector that combines the spring steel locking ring and spring steel adapter of U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,933 with a novel connector to connect two helically wound armored or metal clad electrical conductors to a junction box or an electrical panel through a single access hole or knockout. The duplex connector includes a housing having a generally oval or race track-shaped inbound end and a cylindrical outbound end. The inbound end of the housing is adapted to accept an insert containing two spring steel cable retainers that are analogous to the spring steel locking rings of U.S. Pat. No. ""933 with the outbound end adapted to accept a spring steel adapter analogous to the spring steel adapter of U.S. Pat. No. ""933. The insert is secured to the housing in U.S. Pat. No. ""661 by a screw or similar fastening device.
Although the duplex connector of U.S. Pat. No. ""661 provides an easy way to connect two conductors through a single access hole in a junction box or panel, it can be improved. A simpler design of the duplex connector of ""661 could be created by removing the outward tangs on the cable retainers and replacing the apertures on the insert with a threaded hole sized to accept a set screw. Set screws could then be inserted to secure the spring steel cable retainers to the insert. Another simpler design of both the spring steel cable retainers and the insert would be achieved by forming annular ridges at the inboard end of the insert to hold the cable retainers inside the insert. In this manner the outward tangs on the cable retainers could be eliminated along with the tang apertures on the insert.
The duplex connector of the present invention could be made even simpler by modifying the inbound end of the connector housing to hold the cable retainers. Modified in this manner, the insert could be eliminated thereby reducing the number of required parts.
The present invention provides several simplified designs of the duplex connector disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,194,661 issued Feb. 27, 2001 to Gretz. U.S. Pat. ""661 discloses a duplex connector that combines the spring steel locking ring and spring steel adapter of U.S. Pat. 6,080,933 with a novel connector to connect two helically wound armored or metal clad electrical conductors to a junction box or an electrical panel. The duplex connector includes an insert that is fastened to its inbound end and includes spring steel cable retainers to secure two inbound cables.
A first embodiment of the present invention simplifies the design of the duplex connector of U.S. Pat. No. ""661 by removing the outward tangs on the cable retainers and replacing the apertures on the insert with a threaded hole sized to accept a set screw. Set screws are then inserted to secure the spring steel cable retainers to the insert. In this manner the machining of the spring steel cable retainers are simplified by eliminating the requirement to form outwardly extending tangs. Machining of the insert is also simplified by eliminating the apertures to accept the tangs of the cable retainers.
A second embodiment of the duplex connector simplifies the connector even further by providing annular ridges at the inbound end of the insert to act as a retainer for holding the spring steel cable retainers. The cable retainers are then simply snapped into place within the inbound end of the insert thereby eliminating the need for tangs or set screws to hold them in place.
A third and preferred embodiment simplifies the duplex connector of U.S. Pat. No. ""661 even further by eliminating the need for an insert. In this embodiment, the inbound end of the connector housing is modified to accept the spring steel cable retainers without the need for an insert. This greatly simplifies the construction of the duplex connector by completely eliminating the need for a separate part.
Another simpler design of both the spring steel cable retainers and the insert would be achieved by forming annular ridges at the inboard end of the insert to hold the cable retainers inside the insert. In this manner the outward tangs on the cable retainers could be eliminated along with the tang apertures on the insert.